Corona With A Capital C

carbonated soft drinks

in fizzy flavours, how eagerly

awaited were deliveries of

those bottles of tangy orangeade,

luscious raspberry or sweet cherry

whose brightest of reds

would stain teenage lips

as well as young tongues

my top pick, American cream soda

dandelion and burdock brought bubbles

rising in high excitement to burst

on surface of clear glass tumblers

while my handsome, wish he was mine

oh so tantalisingly handsome this beau

whistled down our garden path weekly

crate held in tanned arms, so inviting

royalty of pop clinking away

that famous seven pronged crown

stamped in black on white label,

the designer of drinks

Corona we loved you and I

yes I certainly had eyes for him,

a prince in my book

that c word now summons fear

visiting too close to home,

first UK death in our town

empty shelves, panic setting in

anticipating a rough ride

no vaccinations in sight

a pandemic in the making

reminiscent of Spanish flu,

a century past when the reaper

dug in, reaped his havoc

where misery spread with the dead

while the bell tolled for millions

in unmerciful and prolonged agony

Reviews

[.]

Yesss. It's quite frightening! The cases in China are falling while the rest of the world is on the rise. It makes one fearful and especially for the elderly we love and cherish. There will be some very difficult months ahead for all of us. I adore how your poem started off as a reminiscing about the soda's of your youth (i associate Corona with long necked beer bottles only!), then transforms into a reflection of the crisis of our times. Let's hope the world gets through this very quickly. A relevant piece of writing, dear Chris. Imaginative and thoughtful.

[Chris Shaw]

Many thanks Jamila for your thoughtful review. You are appreciated.

Chris

[Wild Rose]

Like Jamila I loved the beginning
Talks of fizzy thirst quenching drinks
Oh for a warn summer afternoon sitting on a lounger, with fizzy pop in my hand

Sitting in our lounge (chair almost worn out) sun shine through the window > fizzy pop now warm
Unable to go out . even to our enclosed garden _ No immunity germs are easier to catch

Oh well we are having a tin of meat from the stock in the camper - so almost camping

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Wild Rose. I am really nostalgic for the days when the fuzzy drinks were delivered to our home. Keep safe and well.

Chris

[Wild Rose]

Actually it makes very little difference to us
Now retired, winter is a time when we spend most of our time in the house (Why go out in the rain?)
Its now when the weather is fine and all we have is the garden, or walk round the houses - we want to go down to the sea
Son is at home because of our age > He would have been delivering medication to care homes otherwise > County Council staff with cars

[McEltic]

Things always hit hardest when they hit close to home it seems... nothing yet in London ontario. But we’ve a thousand or more Chinese students gracing our boundries. Never cared for Cream Soda but did have a Corona last time I was out to dinner.

[Chris Shaw]

Enjoy your Corona with your dinner. Regarding the virus, pleased it hasn't reached you. It seems to be decreasing in China and increasing in Europe. Thanks for your visit.

Chris

[Dhara_Ditzy Kat]

Stay safe my beautiful poet friend dear Chris. This poetry is fabulous as all your poetry always. Keep me posted on how you are doing as kitty will be so worried here for you.

[Chris Shaw]

Good morning Ditzy Cat. Here, I've brought treats for you. I am so thrilled that p***y cats enjoy my poetry. I am ensuring everyone in my household keeps washing their hands. That's the most sensible piece of advice in the current situation. Love have your paw prints on my page.

Chris

[Dhara_Ditzy Kat]

Awww thank you my friend for such love and treats always that draw me to your page! Stay blessed & Enjoy your weekend 😽💕

[John the Baptist]

Corona, as I recall, is also the name of a Mexican beer. Very sorry to hear of your local casualty. None in my neck of the woods as yet, but it's only a matter of time. Still, this is not the 1918 Spanish flu, and certainly not the Black Death, which killed a third of mankind between India and Iceland. It will pass, there will be a vaccine and the dread will end. Still, make sure to wash your hands.

[Chris Shaw]

I would like to share your optimism regarding the spread of the virus John. I sincerely hope it does pass through quickly. There is great apprehension in my neck of the woods and panic buying. Bring back the cirona Iknewabd loved or maybe even a Mexican beer. I certainly wouldn't mind trying that. Appreciate your visits and your thoughts.

Chris

[barleygirl]

Being tucked away safely in the wilderness, I don't think about coronavirus very much & without the fervor that many others feel, I just get a kick out of your creative leap from this scourge to the Corona we all knew & loved. I never graduated from cream soda to beer, myself . . . tried often, but could not "acquire a taste" as they said I would. All in all, I get a playful feeling from this, almost as if you're spoofing all the alarm that's out there. We've had so many scourges . . . in fact, we HAVE so many scourges scouring the planet, why freak out about one more? (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Chris Shaw]

Being tucked away in the wilderness has its advantages Margie. I think the current time especially. I certainly feel people are going over the top, but neither do I feel complacent. Everyone in my household is under strict orders to keep hand washing. A shortage of toilet rolls is hilarious. I mean the virus does not effect your digestive system. It's not going to have you sitting on the loo for hours on end. I wonder who started that off? I do believe it started in Australia and then spread like wild fire through the tinternet. That's got alot to answer for :)

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

this becomes so sad and tragic....innocence turned to fear...
the corona virus has created a mass hysteria...but life itself has changed so much now...
the fear of knowing C urtails the splendid blindness of youth....
I used to love Cream Soda and drank it up in Vermont..Theresa G. always had some in the soda dispenser.
60 years ago, far removed from all the terror we live with today.
j.

[Chris Shaw]

Love your memory of Theresa G, Jacob. Cream soda and Vermont is a far more pleasing memory than where we currently are. Yes fear is spreading along with the virus and that makes me cherish those days of innocence even more. Appreciate your thoughts always my friend.

Chris

[Lorry]

I was unfortunate enough to live in an area where only Alpine was delivered, and no matter what flavour of those giant bottles you chose, they all tasted of disappointment and regret. Yours sounds so much better Chris, and feel your pain at another childhood memory being ruined forever, by that damn pesky thing of growing up and being told to stop skipping, running, playing. Now we can't even clear our throats in the checkout line without being quarantined.
Ahh, bring back the days of Kia-Ora being too orangey for crows....(Did someone just say bird flu?)

[Chris Shaw]

You missed out on Corona Lorry and had to make do with Alpine? I've never even heard of it. You know it was a moment to look forward to, the delivery of those bottles of teeth rot :)) Not that we knew that then. Now, now don't let your thoughts flyaway with bird flu.Yes whatever you do, don't cough in the supermarket or you'll be sure to create a stampede. Just keep washing your hands.

Chris

[Lorry]

Ever since the day pepsi max came out, it's all i drink soda wise, but now even they are messing with my head.
Up here, all soda drinks are called one of two things, skoosh and ginger. Its always been that way and always will, so what do pepsi max do? Only bring out pepsi max ginger! (delicious btw) so basically i have to go in and ask for a bottle of ginger ginger, leading to similar looks that people have at strangers while theres a mental patient escape from the local asylum, during a storm.
Things where easier back in the day 😀

[Chris Shaw]

Ha ha you know I might just have to try that pepsi max ginger. My corona days are over (soft drinks I'm talking here) and I don't drink that bottled beer muck as I prefer real ale. Things used to be uncomplicated didn't they? Everything has become so complex. I mean even buying a coffee. There's about two hundred types now :)

[Lorry]

Imagine asking for a hazelnut choca mocha latte in the seventies? You would get a waitress shouting at you "there's only two kinds, black or white!"
Ps.. Ginger ginger is also awesome if you add it to spiced rum. And nope, i don't have shares in pepsi 😀

[Rania M]

Are we suddenly in the Black death or plague kind of medieval era again? A global pandemic and why? Wil;l be ever feel secure again? Some of the questions killing me as I read this beautifully written poem of yours dear Chris. How deeply and compassionately you think over humanitarian issues. I love reading you.

[Chris Shaw]

Rania, I truly appreciate your visits on my page. Thank you so much. Also delighted to hear you enjoy my work. That means a great deal.

Chris

[Rania M]

Of course! Stay safe and yours!

[Neville]

the juxtapositioning of my once fave beverage against the Spanish Lady can only happen in poetry.. maybe that is why my relationship with poetry has outlived all others..

You have crafted a little roller coaster here.. first taking me back to my own childhood (seems we must have lived on the same street, so close your recollections are to my own) and then whiplash your reader into the grim present and then down into the darkest moment of relatively recent history to when 55 million perished at the hands of a previous killer virus ….

Timely, apt and better composed than I am right now....

Neville

[Chris Shaw]

I hope my roller coaster didn't ruffle your feathers too much Neville. You never quite know where you are going to end up when you compose a poem do you? I think my thoughts were running amok in a similar way to how the coronavirus is spreading at the moment. I much prefer the corona of my youth and pleased that you too remember those days. Thank you for your visit and enjoy the weekend.

Chris

[alanwgraham]

Lovely memories of the treat of childhood pop morph into our present day nightmare. There are all sorts of issues to explore, misinformation, panic buying, official incompetence etc. Using metaphor to describe this is great Chris. We've had our own see anxiety here. Our two sons came back from a skiing holiday in N Italy two weeks ago. Donnie was told to work from home. He developed some symptoms, phoned NHS and then had the men in hazmat suits at his house to test him. A ll very worrying but test came back negative. Personally I don't think most ofus should worry but panic has already set in. I might spent the next three months sitting in the WC (not the loo!) drinking pop.
Take care and wash your hands. Frequently!
Alan

[Chris Shaw]

Hello Alan, thank you for sharing that situation about your sons. It does appear that those who went skiing in northern Italy were at more risk. Thank goodness all is well with your boys. Yes, panic has set in and loo rolls were flying off the shelves down here, along with hand sanitiser, soap and pasta. Making sure I wash my hands frequently. Thanks for the review. All good wishes.

Chris